True, also depends where you live in CA. From your handle, UCSD, if I make the HUGE deduction you are from San Diego, then I would check out Southwest. They have surprisingly frequent flights to Buffalo.
I fly Southwest and JetBlue out of Buffalo if at ALL possible. Don't bother with other airlines because they're frequently late through the layovers up here.
Feel free to PM me if you have more questions, OP.